Groundbreaking Reads Book Reviews, Week 5

The Victory Club by Robin Lee Hatcher        5 STARS
Four women working in an air base during WWII become friends, each from different backgrounds.  How they bonded together to hep each other and other people is amazing.  I like the book because I can take what I read and apply it to my life.  You don't have to have friends just like you.
-- Reviewed by JD

Spartan Gold by Clive Cussler        4 STARS
Remi and Sam Fargo discover an old Nazi mini-sub, then go on a dangerous journey to a sea cave, another island, France, and Italy, all in a search for Napoleon's cellar.  Bondaruk and Kholkov pursue them.  Bondaruk wants the treasure for himself. The treasure is Karyatid columns covered in gold. Both Bondaruk and Kholkov died in the caves where the Karyatids are located.  Eleven of the lost cellar bottles were found, the last seven in a home.  One of them broke.  I really liked this book, except for the supposed historical references and middle unraveling.  -- Reviewed by SB

Soul of the Samurai translated by Thomas Clearly     3 STARS
This was a translation of Zen/Bushido classic works that showed how Samurai mixed war and Buddhism.  The translator adds extensive commentary.  At times, this enhanced the works, at others it obscured and detracted from them.  As with any commentary, personal philosophy at times overshadows the primary text, while at other times adding vital context.  If you are seriously studying this subject, it's worth the read but less so for the casual reader.  -- Reviewed by NC

Snowfall at Willow Lake by Susan Wiggs     5 STARS
This book tells about how a middle-aged career women goes through the emotional turmoil of divorce and how she triumphs over her divorce to fall in love again.  -- Reviewed by LB

Patient Zero by Jonathan Maberry
Patient Zero is my first Jonathan Maberry book, but it certainly won't be my last!  This is the first book in his series featuring Joe Ledger and the DMS (Dept. of Military Science). Ledger is a cop with Baltimore PD and has a long history of being involved in combat situations.  He is recruited into the DMS because of his background and experience.  He soon finds, though, that nothing could have prepared him for the walking dead.  Very well written and compelling.  Highly recommended! -- Reviewed by JC

Between Sisters by Kristin Hannah     5 STARS
A wonderful story about how a bond of sisterhood will help you through tough times, how problems draw you closer together and make you realize your priorities.  -- Reviewed by AM

Desperate Households by Kathy Peel     5 STARS
Kathy Peel is a family manager who shared practical tips for ladies (especially moms) to get various areas of their lives organized, such as morning routines, dinnertime, and cleaning.  I love how she shared true stories of how women transformed their lives by taking small steps -- including herself.  I am in the process of decluttering my home and I found her ten-minute solutions of tackling 1 or 2 things to be quite useful.  I really feel like this book pertains to all women who want to better organize their lives.  -- Reviewed by JS

An Unquiet Mind: A Memoir of Moods and Madness by Kay Redfield Jamison     5 STARS
This book is a memoir of sorts written by Kay Redfield Jamison, who is the leading authority on bipolar disorder.  Her candid wit mixed with her imaginative prose in tandem with her clinical eye for mood disorders is a refreshing break from the humdrum dry manner of other scientific inquiries.  A poet and a scientist, a teacher and a student, Ms. Jamison is them all. Within her memoir she shares her personal realization, struggle, and knowledge on bipolar disorder.  As a psychology major with a love for literature, I view Ms. Redfield's work as a perfect coupling of creative genius with laser-precision science.  A true artist, pioneer, and inspiration.  In my various readings on mental illness, she paints the most vivid, indepth, and accurate depiction I've seen so far.  A must-read for those wanting to understand the complexities and nuances of manic-depressive disorder.  -- Reviewed by SF

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